Day 23: Dar Es Salaam (January 30, 2011)

Today wasn't that great, but the city was better than I expected after my initial impression (so far, at least, the day is not over).  Abdul and I walked to the National Museum, which is mostly a natural history and anthropology museum.  If you didn't know, Tanzania is the site of many/most of the earliest human ancestor remains.  As in, millions of years old.  The museum was a bit "small town" but it was worth our time.  And the country is quite proud of having so many ancient bones -- human, animal, even dinosaur.  It made me sigh a little, knowing a country that's supposedly not as developed as the US understands and fully embraces concepts like, you know... evolution, and half of the people in the US do not. 

The city is not all as crappy as the area around our hotel.  I'm not sure why our neighborhood is so shady.  It's home to several hotels, so you'd think it would nicer than the surrounding areas.  But many of the streets a little farther away are wide and tree-lined, without the shifty folk hanging around. 

Go Buckeyes!

We wandered down to the Fish Market on the coast, too.  It didn't impress me so much after seeing the fish markets in Ghana, but it was still pretty big and impressive.  Think West Side Market, only all fish and not particularly sanitary.

I've paid for only one hour of time here and I need to finish learning about Sri Lanka, which is where I'm heading in two days.  I'll upload a couple of photos from today soon.  Not that they're all that interesting, especially after the safari photos.  [Updated:  Uploaded!  But a letdown.]

January 29, 2011 8:30 pm in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

I'm writing from the lobby of my hotel in Dar Es Salaam, on the coast of Tanzania. It's very bare bones, but $20/night, and the room is clean with its own bathroom. No internet at all, though, so I'll have to go down the street to an internet cafe to post this later.

Tonight I'm in the first city I don't like. There's something shady about Dar Es Salaam. Too many people just standing around doing nothing, but unlike, say Ghana or the middle of Dupont Circle, I'm not so sure they're just minding their own business. And too few of them are women. My feeling is reinforced by the hotel staff and some other guests encouraging us to lock our valuables in the safe, and to go out together, not alone. And from what I can tell, the city is boring too. There are a few museums or churches to see, but it's not the cultural cosmopolitan city I was hoping for. And I'm still not used to neighborhoods that are probably middle class here but would be slums back home. So that's adding a bit to my discomfort.

Tomorrow Abdul and I will hire a taxi to drive us around town seeing what sights there are to see, then we'll probably see some sights on foot. But since Abdul leaves one day before me, I'll probably hang out at the hotel my last day, or at the internet cafe down the street. That'll be boring, but like I said, I don't really like this city, so who cares? Maybe I'll finally make a dent in that 1400 page book I brought with me.

I've been watching Al Jazeera for the past 3 hours, first at a restaurant a few blocks away (which was quite comfortable actually) and now here in the lobby. It's showing live coverage of the protests in Egypt. I probably wouldn't be watching, and would barely be aware of the protests, if it weren't for the fact that Abdul is from about an hour south of Cairo. He, of course, is engrossed with what's going on, because nothing like this has happened in Egypt in his lifetime. So my new friend is interested, and the crowd in Cairo has gathered in the square just outside the Egyptian Museum, where I was last week, so I feel some connection because I was so recently there. Right there. I'm rooting for "the people" because Egypt's president sucks. I guess he's more a dictator at this point, right? But I'm also sad if the reports of looting are true, and sad that some objects at the museum were damaged, and that people were killed.

Our TV watching was briefly interrupted by gunfire out in the street. Ooops -- no, false alarm! It was a large fireworks display from a few blocks away, celebrating the Chinese New Year. That was an unexpected little treat, and of course I think it's fun that people are shooting off hundreds of fireworks from a downtown street. Since Dar is on the ocean, it has a constant breeze, which blew the smoke away and made for a good display (unlike a certain nation's captial I could name, which has no wind and therefore mediocre fireworks displays). [Later, in my room I can hear some chinese singing. It's charming, and maybe it's improving my opinion of this town a little bit.]

By the time this gets posted, the protests in Cairo will probably be old news. But I'm feeling more connected to this specific world event than I usually do when such things happen, so I'm marking the occassion by writing about it. Oh, and Abdul currently lives in Qatar, so he won't be returning home to riots and curfews, but to something normal. At least I won't have to worry about him when he leaves on Monday.

This is a point in my itinerary I wish I'd done differently, maybe taken a longer safari and skipped the coast entirely. This city is not that great and our 9 hour bus ride this morning was dreadful. Much worse than the bumpy road from Nairobi to Arusha, and the misery was compounded by the airing of the two worst movies I've ever seen. At top volume, in english, which almost no one on the bus understood, so I have no idea why they were chosen. (Don't ask what they were, some crap from Nigeria and Ghana I think. They were Mystery Science Theater bad, but without the funny robots to make us laugh.) Of course, when I made my itinerary, I'd budgeted more time to go to the island of Zanzibar (which I'll probably skip now, with some regret because Stone Town is Nikki S's favorite place on earth) and I didn't know Dar would be such a letdown. /Shrug/ ... I expected some dud stops along the way, I guess this is one of them.

Oh yeah, and I lost my favorite hair clip today. :( I brought another one and some hair rubberbands, too, but the one I lost held my hair just right and I will miss it.

Hmm, maybe I'll like Dar more tomorrow when I'm less tired and not losing stuff.

Days 20 & 21: Tarangire & Arusha

Why am I so tired?  It's only 10pm and I know I got enough sleep last night!  And despite being bitten by about 500 tsetse flies in Tarangire National Park yesterday, I don't actually think I caught the sleeping sickness.  Maybe it's the thought of waking at 5am tomorrow to take a 9-hour bus ride (that will probably be 11 hours) to Dar Es Salaam, on the coast of Tanzania.  Fortunately, one of the guys from the safari, Abdul, is heading the same way so I'll have a traveling companion.  It's better than being miserable alone.  ;-)  And as always when I change locations, I have no idea what the internet access will be like, so I might disappear again for a while.

Today I took a walk around town but mostly stayed at the hotel, catching up on chores like paying my bills, washing my clothes (hand washing clothes takes a long time!) and looking up things to do in Dar.  Nothing exciting today.

But yesterday was (mostly) fun, being the last day of the safari.  Tarangire had a number of animals we'd seen before, but some of the shots were even better.  The elephants in particular were fun to watch there:  They walked in columns, I kept hoping they'd grab each others' tails with their trunks, but they didn't lol.  Obligatory photos from Tarangire:

Unfortunately, the tsetse flies were so bad they almost completely negated our pleasure at being in the Park.  They ignore mosquito repellant and clothes and are just downright unpleasant.  Blech.

Day 19: Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania (January 26, 2011)

Today we went down into Ngorongoro Crater. About 2.5 million years ago, it was a giant volcano whose ashes spread to the west and formed what is now the Serengeti plain. Today the Crater is extinct and is chock full of animals. I don't think the photos show it, but it's a near perfect circle about 20 miles (that's a guess) in diameter. The rims aren't quite cliffs, but the roads have to switchback because they are very very steep hills.

This might have been my favorite park so far because everywhere you looked, there were animals. Basically, if you stood in one spot and turned in a full circle, you'd see animals in every direction. I think the Serengeti is more famous because of the Great Migration, where millions of animals move across the plains twice a year. I guess the animals in Ngorongoro tend to stay inside the Crater.

Those are flamingos, way out in the lake.

The Corey Bastard.

We saw a couple of new animals today, most notably a couple of black rhinos, which are extremely rare. As in, there are only 25 in all of Ngorongoro and only 12 (twelve) in the Serengeti, which is huge. I'm not sure if that means there are only 27 in the whole world (in the wild) or if some exist elsewhere. Osmond, our guide, said that down in South Africa, people are successfully breeding the black rhino with the white rhino, which is more plentiful, in hopes of keeping the species alive. Damn poachers have killed most of them, and are still at it. :(

He looks white because he was rolling in the dirt.

And there's an elephant graveyard, too, which is just a spot on the open plains where the elephants go to die. They live to be about 65-70, so there's not a constrant stream of dying elephants or anything like that.

I got to my lodge late this afternoon and went for a swim and a bit of sun. After 18 days in Africa, I am still the palest person on the continent. That's mostly good, because it means my suncreen and hat are doing their job. But geez, I want to come home with a little tan at least! Some proof that I was right near the equator!

While I was in the pool, feeling good, I wondered if I'm making good use of my time. Shouldn't I be suffering on a bus somewhere, or getting sick from the food, or ripped off at a tourist trap? Those things make the best stories, right? But safaris are a huge reason why people come to Tanzania, so I decided to be happy to have at least one really comfortable and luxurious experience on my trip. It doesn't all have to be a hassle.

Day 18: The Serengeti (January 25, 2011)

Waking up at 5:20 am usually sucks, but today I was excited so it was easy. It was still dark, and I could see the Big Dipper through my window, hanging low in the sky. I followed its pointer towards the North Star, but of course didn't see it, as it is at or below the horizon this far south.

We left at 6 to pick up the guys at their campground. I learned later that they had a hyena running around the camp that morning... ah, the fun I missed by staying in the lodges! Actually, I bet staying at the campgrounds would have been fun, if not as posh. There was a fun event when we got to the evening's campground too (more on that later).

So I missed the hyena and I was a little jealous, but the guys missed sunrise over the Serengeti. I wonder if they are reading this later and are jealous.

We saw fewer animals today on the Serengeti than the past two days, but we did see a few we hadn't seen before, notably, some cheetahs, which apparently can be quite hard to find because they like to lie in the tall grass.

Three cubs and their mom.

A few more photos from the Serengeti:

Mongooses go anywhere they want.

The small things can be easy to miss.

Around mid afternoon we started the drive towards the rim on Ngorongoro Crater, where we are all staying for the night before heading down into the Crater tomorrow. As you know, Ngorongoro Crater is my favorite mid-level zone in the World of Warcraft, and it looks even more amazing in real life than in the game. It's the only thing I've seen so far on this trip that literally took my breath away.

While we (well, mostly they) were unloading all the camping gear for the night, an elephant wandered right into the camp. At first, he was off to the side, maybe 30-40 feet away from us, so we all took turns snapping each others' photos in front of the elephant.

Then the elephant started creeping towards us. Well, as much as an elephant can creep, that is. Then he started sauntering towards us at a fairly brisk pace, at which point we all freaked out and were torn between scooting away as fast as possible and staying completely still. I mean, do you know what to do when an elephant starts coming your way? So we compromised by kind of sliding sideways away from it. Turns out, the elephant was after the water cistern right behind us. So he stopped for a drink then went on his way. That was when I really thought it would be fun to camp instead of lodge.

See him trying to hide under the tree?

And disguise himself as an outhouse?

Stealing the campers' water.

I'm at another great lodge tonight, hanging out in the large and festive lobby, listening to a 3-man drum and bells band. Oh, and I just looked out the huge window onto the balcony. It looks like an old Atlantic City boardwalk, complete with binoculars for gazing into the Crater. This isn't as fun as camping, but it's pretty enjoyable.

Until this week, I always wondered why people would vacation in places like all-inclusive resorts or cruises. Well, being on a safari is a lot like that. Someone else is responsible for almost everything we do: When we leave, what we eat, where we go, where we sleep, etc. And it's surprisingly relaxing and not boring. Then again, I've been watching lions and elephants and endless grasslands throughout the day. Don't know if I'd want this complete lack to responsibility anywhere else, but now I at least understand the desire to be completely taken care of.

Day 17: The Serengeti (January 24, 2011)

Warning! One graphic image in this post.

[Again writing in the evening; no idea when this will post.] Today the safari toured its first day of the Serengeti, which is where Disney filmed The Lion King. The day was pretty uneventful in the sense that the car stayed in one piece and nothing else f'ed up. My companions continue to be nice, and we chat a little throughout the drive and at lunch, but I for one am content being quiet and watching the scenery. The others seem happy doing the same. And of course it's the scenery, especially the animals that we came to see. 

She just ate her lunch.

Her lunch.

Hippos look cute, but they apparently are the deadliest animal in Africa and are quite disgusting to boot.  The Straight Dope says:  "The hippopotamus, for instance, is said to mark jungle trails by excreting a lethal mixture of urine and feces while twirling its tail like a propeller. This may explain the historically sluggish market for pet hippopotamuses." Moving on...

The highlight of my day might have been the ride to my lodge at the end of the night. When I booked my trip, I was told the lodges and campgrounds were very close to one another. But it turned out that those lodges were all full, so I was booked into different lodges, much farther from the campgrounds. I also suspect I got upgraded from the "cheap" lodges to the intermediate lodges, which would account for why they are so nice. [I later learned this was the case tonight, but the other lodges are really the "cheap" ones.]

So my guide had to drive me separately to my lodge after dropping the guys off at the campground. We had a 25 miles drive through the Serengeti at sunset. It was so beautiful and calm and we saw only one other vehicle the whole ride. It was nearly dark when the reached the lodge. You know I like feeling I have something special all to myself, and that's how the night ride felt... like the Serengeti was all mine!

Just before bed I went out on the balcony. It was as close to pitch black as I've seen in about 25 years. Too bad it was partly cloudy, so I couldn't see the Milky Way. It still felt really good though, just hearing and feeling, not seeing.

Day 16: Manyara National Park, Tanzania (January 23, 2011)

[Writing this the evening of January 23; no idea when I can post it.] Today was the first day of my five-day safari: Manyara National Park, which is one of four parks I will tour while here. There are five of us on my tour, all single travelers who happened to wind up in the same 4WD. Paul from England, Abdul from Egypt, Viktor from Hungary, Albert from Germany and me (and everyone speaks English, yay). When we settled in the car, I asked if anyone knew each other already and they all said no. I said "I'm so glad! I was worried it would be me and four best friends!" They all laughed and yelled "me too!" I guess all solo travelers worry about getting left out. It is kind of a quiet group, but I prefer that to having someone along who doesn't know how to STFU. Anyway, the interesting part of this trip is the animals. So with no further ado, some scenes from Manyara:

 

A tik-tik.  He's about 2 feet tall.

By the end of the day, our car had gotten two flat tires. The first one was early in the park, but the second one was as we were heading out for the evening. Our guide/driver flagged down another 4WD and arranged to have me taken to my lodge. The four fellows with me are all camping, so they stayed with the driver. I didn't see how quickly they got the tired changed. Hopefully fast.

This lodge I'm writing from is one of the "cheap" safari lodges. I don't know how much it costs because it's bundled into the cost of my safari. I reckon a couple of hundred a night on its own. But it's very glamourous, very stereotypical old-world african safari type hotel [I learned later it underwent a huge refurbishment in 2003; it used to be a total dump]. Sadly, it does not have the wifi I was told it had, so you're reading this after a longer than usual delay. But it does have a pool, which I took advantage of.

Travel Day 15: Arusha, Tanzania (January 22, 2011)

This morning I had my first OMG! moment when I was unable to get cash from an ATM machine. I'd stopped earlier in the morning and withdrew the maximum amount permitted by the machine (roughly $300), then went with my two guides to the Tourist Board to choose a company for my safari, which leaves tomorrow. [An aside: The radio in the restaurant where I'm typing is playing a techno version of Oh My Darling.] I settled on a more established company for my safari; the two guys who were driving me around town might do just fine, but I felt more comfortable going with a company known by the Tourist Board, even if it's a few hundred dollar more expensive.

So I picked my safari and my accomodation. I picked lodges, which supposedly all have the internet. It's become a lot more important to me to stay connected than I thought it would be when I left; I'm willing to pay a little more for the ability. Besides, camping creeps me out a bit. And I'll be part of a group, so I'll have others to talk to. I hope they are nice. Fellow travelers usually are.

When it was time to pay, I learned they don't take credit cards; just cash or travelers' checks. I maybe should have anticipated that because it costs businesses money to use credit cards, but when I was pricing safaris before my trip, I got the impression these companies take credit cards. And maybe the biggest ones do. Safaris are, after all, very expensive, even the cheap ones.

But no problem, I could get more cash, right? But when we got to the ATM machine, it told me my financial institution rejected my withdrawal. Panic number one, and the biggest one, because what if my bank has stopped all withdrawals?!? Before I left I gave the bank a detailed list of where I would be but still... So I tried my backup bank in Ohio. Argh, I thought I knew my PIN but I didn't! Panic number two. American Express? Nope, the machine can't read it. Getting really upset now. Mastercard? The machine reads it, won't give me money. Complete freak-out on the inside because I'm out of cards.

So my driver & guide take me to another bank and... Whew! There's nothing wrong with my bank card; I just exceeded my daily limit on the last try but was able to withdraw a lesser amount. The other machine wasn't smart enough to tell me that. I did have to use my Mastercard to withdraw quite a bit of cash, and that will cost me a bit in cash advance fees. But I made a budget for emergency or unexpected expenses, and this qualifies so I'm not beating myself up about it.

Was that boring to read? I don't want everyone to think I'm living four months of bliss out here, so I'll write about the bad as well as the good. Yes, an ATM error is pretty mundane, but when you're halfway around the world and have no idea how you'll get money without your cards, a freak-out is in order, and should be noted.

My guide and driver spent three hours driving me around town this morning, saving me loads of taxi fees and lending moral support. So I agreed to take their local tour, which wasn't a complete waste of time. It was a bit overpriced I thought, but I was willing to pay it because of the all the chauffering they did in the morning, for which they didn't charge me, unless they built it into the price of the tour.

We did some driving through Arusha: It seems like a nice town. My hotel is nestled away so I wasn't sure, but I saw enough of it today to say it looks like a middle-class town (there are some poor areas, but non-stop shantytowns). Shops are recognizable as such, lots of people own cars, etc. And there is a lot of greenery, which is very pretty.

We drove outside of town to Mt. Moshi. That was an adventure. Most of the way there was a dirt road and not in good condition. The car got stuck twice, which apparently serves as local entertainment because in both cases people came swarming out of nowhere to help push the car.

The drive through this area was very different from Arusha. It was more rural, and some houses were little more than shacks but some were quite charming. We occassionally had to wait for livestock to get out of the road, and there were fields of crops along the way too.

The mountain itself doesn't rival Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is a couple hours away. But it's tall enough to have a glacier on top. We didn't go anywhere near that high, but we made it to a waterfall fed by glacier meltwater.

Standing in the pool formed by the waterfall was pretty chilly. The air was probably about 90, but the water was just above freezing. Very interesting contrast: the opposite of a hot tub when it's snowing.
We hiked up aways too. Not much to see on the mountain itself, except more jungle, but the view was pretty cool.

Walking back down the mountain then along the dirt road (the car drove ahead of my guide and I), we passed this leathery old woman. She looked like she's been around. About 4'10", maybe 4 teeth, and earlobes with holes that were stretched so big I could have put a finger through the hole (not that I would! creepy!). And she had these big hoop earrings dangling from the lobes. She only spoke swahili, so I didn't understand her, but she was happy to babble at me for a few minutes. I really wanted to take her photo, but I didn't want to imply she was a freak or anything, so I didn't. And she was carrying a machete and looked like a tough old broad, and I didn't need another machete wound. Looking back, though, I should have asked if it was OK and taken a shot.

I've caught a cold (me and my half-assed immune system!), so I returned to the hotel in late afternoon, and have been feeling a little sorry for myself. Well, I need to sleep early anyway. The safari starts in the morning! It will last 5 days/4 nights, so if I disappear, come look for me in Ngorongoro Crater! :)

Experiencing technical difficulties in uploading photos;  I'll add them when it's fixed.

Day 14: Travel from Nairobi to Arusha (January 21, 2011)

This wasn't a fun day, it was all traveling. I left Cairo last night and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya at about 4am. Since I've been reviewing airports, I'll start with those:

I was mildly concerned when I first got to Cairo's airport and didn't see the ticket counters, only some services and the security checkpoints. Turns out, the ticket counters are on the other side of the checkpoint, and the checkpoins barely checks anything: Just a metal detector and bags go through the machine. No disrobing, etc. Terminal 3 is large, clean, has cafes and shops, and has plenty of seating, but didn't look like it would be a nice place to sleep if one needed to sleep there. Later, at the gate we went through the real security check, but it too was pretty simple. Metal detector, and bags go through a scanner. But the only extra step was I had to take my laptop out of my bag. No patdown, questions or bag search. No one else (that I saw) got those either. I can't speak for the other terminals at Cairo's airport, but Terminal 3 was pretty nice.

Nairobi's airport on the other hand is kind of a dump. Dark, grim and crowded. They have a decent little coffee shop, though, and the bathrooms were all very clean. But I think one of them was full of hookers. Either that, or many of the local women dress like hoochie mamas at 6 in the morning, and hang out in the airport bathroom.  Sorry, no pics.

Nairobi's airport is not conducive to sleeping, and I might not have been able to even with a comfy place to sleep, because I get too paranoid about sleeping through things. I'd stolen a pillow from my last flight, though, and this is what I looked like at 6am this morning:

Finding my 8am bus was easy because someone from the company walks around the meet-up point with a sign. The bus wasn't too crowded either; I had two seats to myself. It was hardly the "luxury" advertised on the website, but it was serviceable. The roads between Nairobi and Arusha, Tanzania on the other hand....! Let's just say, a girl shouldn't have to wear a sports bra just to ride a bus! Given the number of tourists who take this route to get to Tanzania (fly to Nairobi, bus to Arusha), you think they'd be in better shape.

I didn't have a hotel booked in Arusha, but I did have two hotels in mind (and both are near other hotels in case they were full). So I was expecting the bus stop to be similar to those in Ghana: You get out, find a cab, and ask the driver to take you somewhere. But here, a large crowd of drivers & tourism guides wait for you, then they pounce! If they had been aggressive it would have been annoying and intimidating. But it felt like they were all vying for my attention, pushing each other out of the way, saying "no no, pick me instead" or "he doesn't know where he's going" etc. Imagine a sitcom. It was kind of amusing, and reminded me of watching the trading floors on the future exchanges. But they were bidding on me.

I picked the guy I liked best (it helped that he mentioned the name of my first choice hotel), and on the way to the ATM and hotel he and his driver made their pitch to pick their safari services. I don't know if I'll use them, but I'm auditioning them tomorrow; they'll be taking me on a tour of the Arusha area. If they do a good job, I'll probably hire them. If not, I'll shop around a little.

My hotel is very nice, a definite oasis, very lush and quiet. I suspect this is another hotel that was designed by Europeans to look "african." Well, it's a lot nicer than the one in Accra, that's for sure. And at $50/night, it feels like a splurge, but that's mostly because I grew accustomed to $22/night in Ghana and $37/night in Egypt.

This is also the first place I've gotten a hot shower. I didn't need one in Ghana, but would have liked one in Cairo. The one downside of the old Cairo hotel was the old plumbing, and the barely luke warm water. I wound up taking a hokey-pokey shower there, where I try to stay as dry (and warm) as possible by only washing one body part at a time. You know, I put my left arm in, I pull my left arm out... So the hot shower here and the three hour nap felt like blessings.

I'm surprised at how chilly it is here tonight; it's comfortably cool sitting outside at 10pm typing this, but I'll have to close my windows overnight. Being so close to the equator, I expected non-stop heat. I'm at 3 degrees south, if you're wondering.

[Next day: I managed to write that all last night but forgot to post it. Or I was too exhausted, I can't even remember, which is a sign of how tired I was.]

Day 13: Cairo (January 20, 2011)

Today was another touristy day, I went to the Egyptian Museum and walked around the city a bit.  I'll start with the museum:  It's entirely dedicated to ancient egyptian art, dating from around 4000 BC to about 400 AD. 

The highlight is King Tut's mask, sarcophogi, and other objects found in his tomb, but the museum is littered with other ancient objects that are equally cool: tombs, building facades, household goods, and thousands of objects created solely to accompany the dead on their journey after mummification.  Speaking of mummies, did you know the ancient egyptians mummified animals?  All kinds: pets, livestock, those they worshipped.  Crocodiles, cats, dogs, bulls, snakes... everything.  And they made little coffins about the size of a human hand for scarab beetles.  And yes, the museum had a bunch of mummies too, human and animal.

My initial impression of Cairo was that it was really cool, and that was reinforced today while walking around.  The city reminds me of New York or maybe Paris, but the people walk a lot slower and the drivers honk their horns a lot more.  Oh, and there don't appear to be any rules on the road at all.  I saw some stoplights, but people didn't heed them.  And if there are three painted lanes on the road, rest assured the cars will be at least four across.  The only thing that made me nervous in Cairo was crossing the street, and it was terrifying.  In my taxi rides around town and during my walk, I expected to see accidents everywhere, but I guess egyptians are used to it.

With this stop I actively wish I'd decided to stay longer in Egypt.  I'd considered coming for 7-10 days originally, then let myself be talked out of it by a friend/acquiantance in DC (/shakes fist at Moh/) and now I wish I hadn't.  The people are somewhere between friendly and gently gruff, and other than the hawkers at the pyramids, I've had no problems with them.  Most people speak at least a little english, and it's a modern city so there is a lot to see and do.  The upside is, I now have a place I know I'd like to return in the future!

One reason I like it here is I'm staying at the second coolest place ever, after the convent in York, England. No, this place might even top that! The Windsor Hotel is one of those british-influenced buildings built around the turn of the 20th Century. A plaque on a wall here talks about its "fading grandeur" -- I second the fading part -- but it's still awesome. First of all, it's got an old elevator with sliding gates on each floor and a manual mechanism, so the hotel has an elevator man/porter on staff. I don't think I've ever seen an elevator like this, except in the movies, let alone ridden in one.

The stairs circle around the elevator bank all the way to the 7th floor (I'm on 6).

The ceilings are 12 feet tall and there is carved wood and wrought iron everyone. It's possible my armoire is as old as the hotel, and I'm certain my telephone is.

And there's this hidden staircase around a dark cornerdown the hall that leads to a mysterious door set high up on a wall. I was too chicken to open it; there's undoubtedly something sinister inside. Back in its heyday, this is the kind of place the evil archeaologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark would have stayed at. He wouldn't stay here today, it's too shabby, but it's the first place on this trip where I didn't feel compelled to sleep in my sleeping sack, because it's clearly clean. An added bonus is the hotel lounge, which is just crowded enough to be lively, but empty enough I can comfortably write my blog.

I'm logging off in a couple of minutes to go to the airport.  I'll be on a plane from 9pm until 3am, then have to stay awake in the Nairobi airport to catch a bus at 8am, which will arrive at my next stop at about 2pm.  Wish me luck, and I'll write again when I can!